Nick D’Virgilio caught up with drummer and friend Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper) backstage at the Foellinger Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to chat about drums and find out what’s in store for the busy performer this year and beyond.

Though he’s enjoyed a diverse career as a clinician and artist, sharing the stage with the likes of Rob Halford, Night Ranger, Kesha, and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Glen’s main gig for the past eight years has been as the touring drummer for Alice Cooper, the reformed Godfather of Shock Rock, who’s still rocking as hard as ever. “Last year we did over 100 shows in 17 countries,” says Glen. “Which is crazy. Alice is 70 years old now, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, how is he going to do that?’ But I was the one going crazy on tour toward the end. And this year, it’s a similar schedule.”

The benefit, explains Glen, of having such a frenzied tour schedule is the freedom to refine your setup. “Doing this gig 100 times a year, it’s a good opportunity to find out what gear is needed. You get to experiment with things, which is fun. And you get to arrive at what suits your sound best.”

Glen’s 8-year stretch with Cooper has led to his involvement with Hollywood Vampires — a supergroup comprised of Cooper and himself, Johnny Depp, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Buck Johnson, and others — which has its own touring and recording schedule to juggle on top of Cooper’s.

Onstage, even at an open-air arena like the Foellinger, Glen’s drumming speaks loud and clear through his DW Collector’s Series maple kit in One Guy Red — so called because, as Glen explains, “there was one guy who had this finish years ago, and that’s how DW came up with the name. It really pops.” As for why he went with maple, “DW uses a lot of exotic woods, and everything they do sounds great. But for this gig, I just needed a good, loud, rock ‘n’ roll set of drums. I really trusted John Good, VP of DW and my drum tech Michael Miller.” Twin 22″ kick drums, surrounded by rock-sized 14″, 16″, and 18″ floor toms, flank a single 12″ tom in the center of Glen’s kit. “I just like going to that single rack tom. The ride cymbal’s here and not here.” Glen also uses a 10″ offset tom for runs. “We call it the Flying 10. We need that spread of toms on this gig. It has a lot of those dramatic fills.”

For his snare, John and Michael set Glen up with a Collector’s Series 6.5″ x 14″ knurled steel snare drum. “A drummer needs to cut through and be heard. This is a band with three guitar players. There’s a lot going on.”

Glen has been a Sabian player for more than a decade. “I think it’s been 11 or 12 years.” He says of his high-output AA and AAX stage cymbals, “They’re rock cymbals, but they’re not too thick — they have some give and color to them.” Glen stresses this point as a reason why his Sabians hold up under his aggressive touch. “I think a cymbal that has some give lasts longer. The ones that are just hard to the touch are going to crack if you play them hard every night.” Glen goes on to talk about the AAXs on his kit. “I love the AAX Stage Crashes. I’ve been doing 19s, usually, with those. You don’t have to kill them to get them to resonate and fill up the space.”

For his ride, Glen looked to the past for inspiration. “I listened to a lot of the ’70s hits to try and determine a cymbal sound. But I was also thinking about how we’re modernizing the music a bit. A lot of classic rock acts do their classics, but on steroids. They heavy it up. So I’ve been using the 22” HHX Legacy ride in brilliant finish, which has the wash. It’s got that ’70s thing.”

Heads are another important consideration for the seasoned drummer, though he doesn’t sweat over the details. “The Evans heads have been great. Lately, we’ve been doing Coated G2s and Clear G1s on the toms — pretty standard. For the kick, it could be an EMAD; it could be a GMAD — it’s good to change it up. The snare has been an ST, which has been great. Evans has also been doing an ST with a dot underneath, which is kind of a prototype. I’d like to see them put that out as a regular product. They also have a Heavyweight drumhead that has been really nice for heavy playing.”

Glen stresses the importance of subbing out his gear preemptively, before a funk can set in. “If you get too much into one kind of head or one kind of crash or whatever, you can get burnt out. But you change it up, and all of a sudden, you’re playing fresh again.”

Big thanks to Glen for taking time out of his soundcheck to chat about his setup. Catch Glen on tour with Alice Cooper right now and Hollywood Vampires later this year.

Glen Sobel’s Alice Cooper/Hollywood Vampires Setup
DW Collector’s Series Maple Drums
Drums in One Guy Red Sparkle Finish
Bass drums (x2): 18×22″ with red leather hoops
Floor toms: 14×14″, 16×16″, and 16×18″, with graduated triple-flanged hoops
High toms: 8×10″ and 9×12″, with graduated triple-flanged hoops
Snare drums (x2): 6.5×14″ Collector’s Series Knurled Steel snare
Evans Drumheads
Tom batter: G2 Coated
Tom resonant: G1 Clear
Kick batter: EMAD Heavyweight or GMAD with Evans AF Patches
Snare batter: ST, ST Reverse Dot (prototype), or Heavyweight Coated
Snare resonant: Hazy 300
Sabian Cymbals
22″ HHX Legacy Heavy ride
19″ AAX X-Plosion Crash
19″ AAX Stage Crash (x2)
19″ AAX Metal Crash
19″ Vault Holy China (x2)
18″ Ozone Crash
15″ HHX Power Hats
14″ AA Metal X Hats
12″ AAX Splash
12″ Trash stack (12″ China with a 10″ splash on top)
Hardware and electronics
Custom Gibraltar semi-circular rack system
DW 9000 double bass pedal
DW 9000 legless hi-hat stand
DW snare stand
Porter & Davies TT6 drum throne
Roland SPD-SX sampling pad
Alesis SR-16 and SR-18 drum machines, for click
LP Bell Diablo cowbell

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Drum Rig Review: Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper)

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